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<p>At the Budget the Government announced a one third discount off business rate bills
for high streets and town centres worth almost £900 million. The discount will be
available, subject to state aid, to retail properties with a rateable value of less
than £51,000 such as shops, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments. We will
publish guidance shortly to help local authorities determine eligibility and implement
the discount.</p><p>Since 2016 the Government has announced a raft of measures to
support business, including permanently doubling Small Business Rate Relief from 50
per cent to 100 per cent for eligible businesses, and raising the threshold for 100
per cent relief from £6,000 to £12,000. As a result, over 655,000 small businesses
– occupiers of a third of all properties – pay no business rates at all. In addition,
the Government brought forward to April 2018 the switch in the annual indexation of
business rates from RPI to the main measure of inflation, currently CPI, which will
be a saving for all ratepayers.</p>
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